Children of God
Galatians • Sermon • Submitted
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· 5 viewsGod has brought a diverse people from a diverse background, and he has made us all His Sons and Daughts.
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One of my favorite games to play when I was a child was “My Dad is Better Than Your Dad...”
Do you remember this game?
My Dad is 6 feet tall? Oh yea…well mine is 6’1
When I would have this conversation in Elementary School it would get way out of hand....
I’d get to the point where I was telling people that my Dad was a Navy Seal…he was an Electrician...
Have you ever thought about why this is almost a universal game? Like I would bet some serious money that if you stepped foot in any elementary school @ some point we would hear a hot debate about who’s Dad is better…Why?
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Dont get me wrong…Im not at ALL minimizing the role of motherhood…in fact…I think the facts about Motherhood might be even more striking...
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But there is something about your Dad isnt there?
In fact, Betsy tells me all the time if Ive been over working or not as home as much as I need to be… “The Kids just crave Daddy time…they need their Daddy...”
And dont get it twisted…my kids dont crave time with me because Im some perfect Dad…as a matter of fact it’s just the oppositte…they crave time with me even though Im an imperfect Dad…They came out just longing for time with Daddy…
Why?
I think the reason is… Because are souls crave to be Sons and Daughters…
We long for the affection and attention of our Earthly Fathers…Because we were made to experience the affection of our Heavenly Father...
The blessing of being sons and daughters of an Earthly father is just a glimpse of the relationship avaliable with our Heavenly Father....
And this is what these passages that we are going to be studying this morning is all about...
So far through the book of Galatians…Paul has used two words to describe Salvation: In Chapter 2, He used the word “Justification.”
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Justification means that our Salvation by faith has made us Right with God…It means that we are no longer guilty before God…but God has determined that by faith in Jesus…it is just as if we had never sinned...
Then in Chapter 3, Paul brings in the word “Redemption”:
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. 15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified.
By Faith, we have been Redeemed from the curse of sin because Christ himself became our curse…We are no longer sinners....but Saints who have all the promises of God guaranteed to us and the Spirit of God indwelling us.
But this morning Paul introduces a new word to us… “Adoption”
Here is what Paul is trying to get us to understand this morning…if you have trusted in Jesus…you do not have the same relationship with God that you used to...
Here is what Paul is trying to get us to understand this morning…if you have trusted in Jesus…you do not have the same relationship with God that you used to...
Understand Paul’s logical progression here of what it means to have faith in the work of Christ…
We Have been Justified…You are no longer standing before God Condemned…you have been forgiven, made right with God…Christ made it just as if you had never sinned.
We Have been Redeemed… We are no longer Sinners…we are Redeemed Saints.
And then this morning we go even deeper...
We Have Been Adopted…God has chosen us as His children...
You see…God didnt just make some stoic decision to forgive you…he didnt just decide to bless you and redeem you…God Loved you at the deepest level in Christ Jesus…He made you His child.
This morning I want us to Understand the Blessing of What it Means to Be Adopted by God
This morning I want us to Understand the Blessing of What it Means to Be Adopted by God
Our Adoption Shows Us That We Have Full Acceptance With God
Our Adoption Shows Us That We Have Full Acceptance With God
Before we move any further…Ive got to address why the Bible says that we are “Sons” in these verses...
Some translations are quick to interpret this verse in a gender neutral sense. So for example where verse 26 where Paul writes, “For in Christ Jesus we are all Sons of God…they say “For in Christ we are all children of God”
The reason why we cant try to correct Paul’s language here is because it is radically egalitarian. In other words…it is radically unifying...
And here is why that is important…In our culture…we dont play favorites…we dont view Sons and more important than daughters. However, in most ancient cultures, daughters were not legal heirs to any of the inheritance of their fathers. Daughters couldn't own land or property. And therefore, to be a daughter in this time period mean that you couldn't possess any of the blessings of your father.
So when Paul says in verse 26, “for in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God, through faith...” What he is saying is, God doesnt play favorites…He doesnt view Sons and More valuable than Daughters…he doesnt view Jews and more valuable than Gentiles…he doesnt view men as more valuable than women...
Rather…v. 27-29 is true…
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
Paul is saying that all people…no matter their gender....no matter their nationality…no matter their cultural heritage…no matter their ethnicity…no matter their socioeconomic level… No matter who you are or where you are from, if you have faith in Christ....you are a Son of God.
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As God’s children…we are accepted no matter who we are, where we are from, no matter what culture we grew up in…And if God accepts us that way…shouldnt it be the same for God’s people?
Shouldnt we, as God’s Children…be accepting of others the same way God has accepted us?
And yet…the truth is…the church is divided today…
We are divided by political rivalry…we accept people as long as they are of my political leanings...
We are divided racially—it has been said that the most segregated day of the week is Sunday morning…God help us...
We are divided by class: We are divided by the Halves and Have Nots
And we wonder why the Gospel isnt recieved by unbelievers on any mass scale…it’s because we…the church havent allowed the Gospel to fully develop in our own hearts.
We say this with our mouth…God accepts you no matter what
We say this with our example though…God accepts you as long as you agree with me, look like me, and are from where Im from...
God help us...
May HRBC be a church that practices the same gospel with our lives that we preach with our mouths.
Our Adoption Gives Us a New Identity:
Our Adoption Gives Us a New Identity:
In his book, Knowing God, JI Packer wrote: Adoption is the highest privilege the gospel offers...
Why is it such a privledge?
Because Adoption shows us that we have recieved a new identity…
Implications:
1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
We Have Been Transformed
Paul says that we are no longer bound by our past…
We were once enslaved to the elementary principles (v. 3)
…but now (v.4) We have been adopted by God because of the work of Christ...
You no longer have to live enslaved by Sin Christian…you can walk in freedom...
You are not a sinner enslaved to the passions of your flesh…you are a Son…indwelled by the Spirit…and liberated to walk in the Freedom of Christ...
For Freedom Christ set you free...
We Have Intimacy With God:
6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
God is not a distant Father…he is near...
We can call out to Him as “Abba”
This is the Aramaic word for “Papa” or “Daddy”
You are safe in the Father’s care…He is your Abba…Your Papa
He isnt ashamed of you...
He is proud of you...
He is delighted in you...
The Word “CRYING” in this verse is such a beautiful picture...
6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
God doesnt expect you to enter into a relationship with him all put together and well behaved...
He accepts you as your authentic self…he accepts our crying just as he accepts our shouting....
Your relationship with Him is never in jeapordy…you are secure…because your are Abba’s Child…indwelled by the Spirit…and liberated by the Son...
Your adoption was a work of the Trinity…All of God wanted all of you...
We Have a Guaranteed Inheritance:
7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Why should we care that we have an Inheritance?
The Value of an inheritance is determined by the Worth of the One Who Gives it...
The God who owns all things, created all things, and sustains all things…guarantees us that we have an inheritance...
And the best gift he could give us is Himself...
25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
Nothing…and noone is better than God...
And through adoption…He offers us the fullness of Himself...
So Where do we go from Here?
Believe It: We need to grow in our belief that we have been adopted by God…it is the foundation for the Christian Life…We are Abba’s Children
Preach It: There are billions of spiritual orphans…they need the gospel…and we have to tell them...
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Recieve It: Do you want to be adopted by God?